"Sly" is a song by British

trip hop Trip hop is a musical genre that has been described as a psychedelic music, psychedelic fusion of hip hop music, hip hop and electronica with slow tempos and an atmospheric sound. The style emerged as a more experimental music, experimental var ...

collective

Massive Attack Massive Attack are an English trip hop collective formed in 1988 in Bristol, England, by Robert Del Naja, Robert "3D" Del Naja, Daddy G, Grant "Daddy G" Marshall, Tricky (musician), Adrian "Tricky" Thaws and Andrew Vowles, Andrew "Mushroom" ...

. It was released as a first single from their second album, '' Protection'' (1994), on 17 October 1994 by Wild Bunch and Circa. Vocals on the track are performed by Scottish singer-songwriter Nicolette. "Sly" reached number 24 in the United Kingdom, becoming Massive Attack's fourth top-40 single there. The accompanying music video was directed by Stéphane Sednaoui and filmed in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

Background

"Sly" was the combination of Craig Armstrong's strings combined with Nicolette's vocals. After hearing her first album ''Now is Early'', and being suitably impressed by it, Massive Attack chose Nicolette to appear on '' Protection''.

Critical reception

Push from ''

Melody Maker ''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. In January 2001, it was merged into "long-standing rival" (and IPC Media sister publicatio ...

'' felt releasing the song as the first single from the ''Protection'' album was "the smartest choice", praising the "dreamy-voices" by Nicolette. He concluded, "Thumbs up." Robbert Tilli from ''

Music & Media ''Music & Media'' was a pan-European magazine for radio, music and entertainment. It was published for the first time in 1984 as ''Eurotipsheet'', but in 1986 it changed name to ''Music & Media''. It was originally based in Amsterdam, but later m ...

'' described it as "slowly-creeping". Andy Beevers from ''

Music Week ''Music Week'' is a trade publication for the UK record industry distributed via a website and a monthly print magazine. It is published by Future. History Founded in 1959 as ''Record Retailer'', it relaunched on 18 March 1972 as ''Music We ...

'' gave it a score of four out of five and named it a "moody, downbeat song". Dele Fadele from ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...

'' wrote, "'Sly' finds Nigerian-born Nicolette trilling on in a sultry and wistful manner about time-travel, fate and destiny whilst the string-laden, mid-tempo backdrop conjures up images of the South Seas Pacific and somewhere more devastated and ominous. The overall effect is of putting your ears close to a sea shell and hearing clear, chiming, harmonic bells; as dazzling as that." Brad Beatnik from the ''

Record Mirror ''Record Mirror'' was a British weekly music newspaper published between 1954 and 1991, aimed at pop fans and record collectors. Launched two years after ''New Musical Express'', it never attained the circulation of its rival. The first UK Album ...

'' Dance Update remarked the singer's "sultry and jazzy vocals" on "a beautiful moody tune that won't be easy to fit in a set (although times are changing fast in clubland)."

Music video

The music video for "Sly" was directed by French music video director, photographer, film producer and actor Stéphane Sednaoui, and produced by Line Postmyr for Propaganda. It was filmed in

and released on 17 October 1994. In the video, three mysterious storylines merge.

Track listings

* UK CD1 and cassette single; Australian CD single # "Sly" (7-inch edit) – 4:10 # "Sly" (7 Stones mix) – 5:58 # "Sly" (Underdog mix) – 5:19 # "Sly" (Underdog double bass & a cappella) – 3:36 * UK CD2 # "Sly" (album version) – 5:24 # "Sly" (Underdog version) – 4:29 # "Sly" (Cosmic dub) – 5:26 # "Sly" (Eternal Feedback dub) – 6:23 * UK 12-inch single :A1. "Sly" (7 Stones mix) – 5:58 :A2. "Sly" (Underdog mix) – 5:19 :B1. "Sly" (Cosmic dub) – 5:26 :B2. "Sly" (album version) – 5:24 :B3. "Sly" (Eternal Feedback dub) – 6:23 * European CD single # "Sly" (7-inch edit) – 4:10 # "Sly" (7 Stones mix) – 5:58 * US maxi-CD single # "Sly" (7-inch edit) # "Sly" (7 Stones mix) # "Sly" (Underdog mix) # "Sly" (Cosmic dub) # " Karmacoma" (LP version)

Charts

References

1994 singles 1994 songs Massive Attack songs Music videos directed by Stéphane Sednaoui Music videos shot in the United States Song recordings produced by Nellee Hooper Songs written by Andrew Vowles Songs written by Daddy G Songs written by Nellee Hooper Songs written by Robert Del Naja Virgin Records singles {{1990s-UK-single-stub